My newborn wearing one of the Carter’s tagless onesies

When I had my baby in 2007, I bought as much organic clothing as I could easily find in stores and afford. I made sure the rest was 100 percent cotton. When it came to which brand of onesies I would buy, I went with the “trusted” Carter’s. I remember my own mother dressing my sister and me in Carter’s clothing when I was little. They’ve been around for years, so they must be a good brand, right?

A little less than one year after my son had been wearing their tagless clothes, I started seeing people blogging about rashes their kids were having. This really concerned me as I had seen no statement from Carter’s themselves disputing the issue or making amends. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning.

But it wasn’t until many parents started making a fuss about it and spreading the word online that Carter’s decided to go a step further. They still have made no official recall, but a friend of mine gave me a tip that they’d refund you for the clothes.

I emailed the company to find out what they would do about my 27 garments that I no longer wanted. The first response I received was interesting.

Thank you for emailing Carter’s Consumer Affairs. The Carter’s offices are currently closed for the holiday.  We will be closed from 12:00 noon CST on Thursday,April 9th through Sunday April 12th.  We’ll return on Monday April 13th.  Our offices will open at 8 am CST.  We will be replying to your email on Monday.  Thank you again for contacting us.

Never had I received an out of the office reply from a company, but I was impressed at their immediate response. The holiday they were referring to was Good Friday through Easter Sunday.

My son had outgrown the clothes with the tainted tags, but I had packed them away just in case we decided to have another (something many moms do). I started going through my bins, collecting all the Carter’s clothing. A little more than half had the concerning tags. But what about the others? How could I be sure that those pieces were okay?

They asked how many garments I had with the tainted tags so they could send a prepaid mailer. I expected to receive a store credit for my worn clothes. Instead they sent a check for the value of those pieces  — $136 and some odd cents!

I was happy to get the cash, because honestly I would have given away the store credit. Carter’s has done what they think is the right thing to do in this situation. But that’s not enough for me to return to their stores.

They state they’ve switched back to a different label. But their statement is even concerning.

… the Fall 2007 labels appears to have produced a more pronounced and noticeable reaction among those children who are most allergic to the ink. For stylistic reasons, Carter’s has switched back to the smaller labels for our Spring and Fall 2008 line.

“A more pronounced?” So their other tags could produce a reaction too, it’s just not as pronounced? I don’t think I want to chance it again.

Do you think Carter’s did the right thing?

Sarah Jo Sautter